Cigar and cigarette holder.



H. A. GRAY.

CIGAR AND CIGARETTE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-19,1917. 1,243,158. Patented. Oct. 16,1917.

HARRY A. GRAY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

CIGAR. AND CIGARETTE HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct. 16, 191?.

Application filed March 19, 1917'. Serial No. 155,719.

To (1U whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY A. GRAY, a citizen of the 'United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cigar and Cigarette Holders; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in tobacco containers, more particularly to holders for cigarettes, cigars and the like.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a holder from which cigarettes or the like may be ejected one by one as required by the user.

The invention is particularly well adapted for use by motorists and others who cannot, well use both hands for removing a cigarette or cigar from its casing without materially interfering with the operation of their machine. With this device the operator may readily remove one cigarette or cigar at a time with only the use of one of his hands.

An additional object is to simplify and improve the eliiciency and convenience of operation of devices of this character.

With the above and several other objects in view the invention resides in the novel features of structure, combination and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed and shown in drawing wherein: I

Figure 1 represents side elevation of my invention, parts of the device being broken away and in section to more clearly show the interior structure.

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of this improved holder, and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the plane of the line 33 of Fig. 1.

In its preferred embodiment as shown in the figures of the drawing the invention consists of a substantially rectangular casing or container 1 of a length dependent upon the length of the articles which are to be used therewith. In other words if the container is to be used for holding cigarettes, it is only slightly longer than the usual length of such articles, but if cigars are to be contained therein it will be considerably longer.

The opposite ends of the container are preferably flat and the upper end 2 has an opening 3 formed therein at one corner as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The opening is of suflicient size to readily allow a single cigarette or cigar to be ejected therethrough. The top 2 is removable so that a supply of cigarettes or cigars may be placed in the container when necessary and they will-be prevented from falling through the open ing 3, should the container become inverted, by a plurality of flexible and resilient fingers 4 which extend inwardly of the opening 3 from the arcuate wall 5. These fingers are preferably formed on one edge of an arcuate rubber strip (3 which is cemented to the under side of the top 9 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The container is further provided with afalse bottom 7 spaced slightly above the bottom 8, the cigarettes or cigars being adapted to rest upon said bottom 7. The false bot tom is provided with an opening 9 adjacent one corner, said opening being adapted to aline with the discharge opening. 3 in the top 2 and to receive an olf-set portion 10 of a spring actuated arm 11 which is disposed between the twobottoms 7 and 8 and fixed to one wall of thecontainer.

The arm is preferably formed froma fiat leaf spring of appropriate length, the oif-set portion 10 thereof being remote from the end which is attached to the container. In other words this off-set portion is adjacent the free end of the arm and is movable longitudinally of the container, or into and out of the opening'9. The opposite. side of the container from that to which the arm is at tached is provided with a slot 12 to slidably receive an outwardly extending actuating finger formed on the free end of the arm 11. i From Fig. 1 it is obvious that the arm 11 1 i'sso' attached to the wall of the container that the off-set portion 10 will have a tendency to be normally disposed within the opening 9. If moved to the dotted line position as shown in this figure and then released it will quickly fly back to this normal position. This movement of the free end of the arm 11 is utilized to eject the cigars or cigarettes through the opening 3 one by one.

Although the operation of the device is readily evident from the drawing it may be briefly described as follows: assuming that the driver of an automobile or the like desires to smoke a cigarette, in which case he holds the container 1 with its supply of cigarettes so that the opening 3 will be adjacent his mouth. The container is also positioned so that its longitudinal axis will be substantially horizontal and the opening 3 at the bottom so one of the cigarettes will drop by gravity into alincnient with the openings 3 and 9. The operator now moves the finger 13 until it is in its dotted line position as shown in Fig. 1. The release of this finger will forcibly ejecta cigarette from the container, the inner end of said cigarette having been engaged with. the oft-set portion 10 of the arm. The cigarette will thus have been thrown out into the operators month. When an additional cigarette is desired the container is again manipulated to bring a cigarette in alinement with the two openings as before mentioned. As a result of. this the operators attention is not diverted from the running of his automobile or other work which he may be doing.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described comprising a container for elongated objects having a discharge opening in one end, a leaf spring in the container at the end remote from the discharge opening, one end of the leaf spring being fixed to the wall'of the container, the other end being free and adapted to be moved longitudinally of said container to eject one of said objects through the discharge opening.

:2. A device of the class described comprising a container for elongated objects having a discharge opening in one end, the wall of the container adjacent the other end having a slot, a leaf spring disposed in the container transversely thereof, one end'being secured to the wall of the container 0pposite, the slot thereof, the free end being projected through said slot to form a finger piece, said free end being movable longitudinally of said container to eject one of said objects through the discharge opening.

3. A device of the class described comprising a container for elongated objects having a discharge opening in one end, a

a sarin fiXed to the wall of the container and having an oft-set portion to extend through the opening in the false bottom to engage one of said objects and eject the same through said discharge opening.

4%. A device of the class described comprising a container for elongated objects having a discharge opening in one end and adjacent one corner, a false bottom for the container adjacent the other end thereof, said false bottom also having an opening alined with the discharge opening, and a spring disposed between the false bottom and adjacent end of the container and secured at one end to the wall thereof, the other end of the spring extending through the opposite wall of the container, the intermediate portion of the spring being off-set to extend through the opening in the false bottom.

e 5. A device of the class described comprising a container for elongated objects having a discharge opening in one end, one wall of the opening being arcuate, means adjacent the other end for ejecting one of said objects through the opening, an arcuate rubber strip secured to the top of said container coincident with the arcuate wall of the opening therein and inwardly extending fingers on the edge of said strip projecting into the discharge opening to prevent the removal of an object except when actuated by said ejecting means.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

Gno. \V. YoUNe, hf. E. Downer.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each; by addressing the (Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

